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33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  1458  J 

(716)  87iZ-4.J3 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
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method: 


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a 


STATEMENT 


OF    THE 


DE    L£RY 


Gold  Mining  Company, 


(OF  CANADA.) 


CHARTERED  BT  ROTAL   LETTERS  PATENT, 
July  ist.,  1865. 


Capital  Stock    -     - 
Guaranteed  Stock  - 


$10,000,000. 

-     $500,000. 


.\^;: 


-T r- 


Principal  Offices : 
Nos.   72  and  74  Cedar  Street,  New  York, 


No.   3  Port 


Dauphine  St.,  Quebec. /)     /S"/^      ^5\  •\ 


'SS 


NEW   YORK:  \<y   <^ "V^/ 

PRINTED     BY    C.    A.     ALVORD,         X^     0\^>    ' 

15  Vandewater  St.  '^  "^ 


•  * 


,.     ,      .        1.866. 

•  ••••••■•'  •  .  • ... '.'r  ..  :., 


•  . .    t    . 


I 


OFFICERS. 


President, 
CHAUNCEY     VIBBARD 

Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
J.  M.  WINCHELL. 


-;o:- 


AMERICAN  DIRECTORS: 
Geo.  D.  Cragin,  Chauncev  Vibbard, 

Thos.  C.  Durant,  F.  G.  Wheeler, 

Washington  Hunt,  J.  M.  Winchell, 

Nenv  York  City. 

CANADIAN  DIRECTORS: 
J.  Greaves  Clapham,  Thomas  Glover, 

Geo.  H.  Simard, 


5* 


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«     4     • 


STATEMENT 

OF  THE 

De  Lery  Gold   Mining  Company 


I. 

The  business  of  mining  for  the  precious  metals,  is 
confessedly  one  of  great  risks  to  the  capital  invested. 
All  prudent  men  regard  its  allurements  with  suspicion. 
So  general  is  the  feeling  of  caution  which  it  has  in- 
spired, that  none  but  the  very  bold  will  fearlessly 
venture  money  in  a  dired  search  for  gold  or  silver ; 
and  it  is  only  when  the  promise  of  profits  is  so  great  as 
to  dazzle  the  judgment,  that  investments  are  made  with 
absolute  confidence. 

That  these  apprehensions  are  well  grounded,  the 
history  of  Mexico  and  our  Pacific  coast  furnishes 
abundant  proof.  Immense  as  are  the  fortunes  which 
those  regions,  in  numerous  instances,  have  been  forced 
to  yield  to  the  enterprise,  the  sagacity  and  will  of 
man,  yet  have  they  been  secured  in  spite  of  the  most 


58530 


4  THE    DANGERS    OF    MINING. 

formidable  obstacles,  and,  very  often,  have  been  built 
on  the  wrecks  left  by  previous  failures. 

Still,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  profits  of  gold  and 
silver  mining,  when  fortunately  managed,  have  often  far 
surpassed  the  anticipations  of  the  most  sanguine.  In- 
stances abound  where  the  owners  of  successful  mines 
have,  in  an  incredibly  short  period,  made  them  the 
sources  of  almost  fabulous  wealth.  To  those  who  have 
the  patience  and  desire  to  study  the  subjeft  carefully 
and  master  its  details,  it  will  appear  that,  while  he 
causes  of  failure  sometimes  originate  in  accident,  yet 
they  are  generally  traceable  diredly  to  rashness  or  bad 
management.  In  order  to  operate  securely,  we  should 
make  this  investigation,  and  ascertain  the  conditions  of 
peril  to  be  avoided  and  those  of  safety  to  be  secured. 

The  parent  of  the  greatest  dangers  that  here  lie  in 
ambush  for  the  capitalist,  is  dijiance.  As  a  rule,  mining 
regions  have  been  remote  from  the  monetary  centers ; 
and  the  interval  could  be  overcome  only  by  slow  and 
toilsome  travel.  The  telegraph  has  but  lately  come  in 
to  alleviate  this  disadvantage ;  and  the  mails  have  been 
subjed  to  frequent  detention  and  occasional  loss. 

Under  such  circumstances,  any  mining  adventure 
would  seem  to  court  disaster.  An  incompetent  or  dis- 
honest agent  can  readily  ruin  his  employers  before  the 
coming  event  can  even  be  foreshadowed.     Against  such 


THE    RESIUISITES    OF    SAFETY.  5 

a  danger,  no  richness  of  the  property  can  avail.  The 
catastrophe  becomes  sure,  which,  with  the  business 
under  the  immediate  eye  of  its  owners,  would  have 
been  impossible. 

If  manufafturers  often  fail,  when  personally  mana- 
ging their  own  affairs ;  if  the  great  bulk  of  our  mer- 
chants, as  statistics  show,  at  some  period  of  their  career 
become  bankrupt;  how  unfair,  how  unwise  is  it,  to 
charge  upon  mining  as  a  business,  those  dangers  which 
are  principally  due  to  the  imprudence  and  folly  of  the 
investors. 

In  fa(ft,  it  is  now  understood  by  experienced  men, 
that,  followed  legitimately,  with  the  exercise  of  the 
same  caution,  judgment,  and  steadiness  essential  to  all 
successful  pursuits,  mining  is  as  safe  as  any  other  busi- 
ness, and  more  profitable  than  most.  The  capitalists 
of  California,  who  can  dire6l  the  details  of  their  own 
enterprises,  run  less  risks  than  the  merchants  of  New 
York.  Once  bring  your  investor  face  to  face  with  his 
business,  and  if  he  has  good  mines,  it  will  be  his  own 
fault  if  his  dividends  are  not  equal  to  his  hopes. 

How  well  this  Master  Industry  of  the  world  can  be 
made  to  pay  when  the  conditions  are  right,  a  few 
instances  abundantly  prove.  In  our  own  country,  the 
Gould  &  Curry  mine  is  a  shining  example,  conspicu- 
ous among  hundreds  equally  brilliant,  but  of  less  mag- 


6  IMMENSE    PROFITS.— CANADA. 

nitude.  Within  four  years,  this  mammoth  concern,  in 
addition  to  the  waste  of  an  improvident  management, 
and  the  construction  of  the  costliest  works  in  the 
world,  divided  Four  Millions  of  dollars  among  the  in- 
vestors of  One  Hundred  and  Eighty  Thousand.  We 
know  an  English  company,  whose  mines  are  in  Brazil, 
and  which  is  compelled  to  transport  machinery  hun- 
dreds of  miles  on  the  backs  of  mules,  and  to  contend 
against  the  evils  of  distance,  and  semi -barbarism ;  and 
yet  the  dividends  are  so  m.uch  to  the  satisfadion  of  the 
shareholders,  that  the  stock  can  not  be  purchased.  In 
the  Old  World,  the  revenues  derived  from  mining, 
have  always  been  adjudged  not  less  than  royal,  and 
destined  to  the  public  treasury  cr  the  coffers  of  princes. 

What,  then,  might  be  our  reasonable  expedations, 
if  we  had  at  our  command,  mines  as  rich  as  those  of 
California  and  as  accessible  as  our  farming  lands  ? 
where  cheap  capital  might  be  employed  in  the  use  of 
cheap  labor  apd  machinery,  and  the  details  of  the 
business  subjefted  to  the  constant  criticism  of  those 
whose  single  interest  it  is  to  swell  the  profits  ? 


II. 

It  is  barely  known  to  the  public  that  Canada  pos- 
sesses some  deposits  of  gold.  None,  save  the  very  few 
who  have  personally  made  investigation,  can  believe 
that  these  deposits  are  at  all  comparable  in  amount 


AN   ATLANTIC    GOLD    BELT.  7 

and  value  with  those  of  California  and  Australia.     The 
brilliant  history  of  our  Pacific  coast  has  quite  captivated 
the  popular  fancy ;  and  the  enchantment  lent  by  dis- 
tance, unfits  us  for  realizing  the  possibility  that  we  are 
encountering  the  enormous  costs  and  risks  of  distant  in- 
vestments,   to   secure   what  we    might   achieve  with 
infinitely  less  expense  and  time,  almost  at  home.    The 
ideas  of  peril  and  profit,  seem  inseparable  in  our  minds  -, 
and  we  can  not  realize  that  gold  may  exist  in  any  region 
not  a  dangerous  wilderness.     We  are  loath  to  be  con- 
vinced, even,  that  our  continent  possesses  an  Atlantic 
belt  of    auriferous  rock,  whose  value    approaches   at 
least,  probably  equals,  and  may  surpass,  that  of  those 
far  regions  whose  very  air  seems  tinged  with  a  sedudlive 
romance. 


For  some  years,  however,  scientific  men  have  been 
changing  their  original  views  in  regard  to  the  gold 
found  in  Canada,  and  have  been  forced  to  concede  that 
it  is  not  an  accidental  deposit  of  some  fabulous  drift, 
but  that  it  is  the  result  of  the  same  causes  which  have 
made  it  so  abundant  on  the  Western  coast.  The 
coarse  particles  profusely  distributed  through  the  soil  of 
the  Chajidiere  Valley,  are  too  sharp  in  outline  to  have 
been  distant  travelers.  It  is  evident  that  their  origin  is 
close  at  hand.  Still,  during  all  the  years  which  have 
clapped  since  the  first  discoveries  in  the  Seigniory  of 
Rujaud-Vaudreuil,  science  has  made  little  progress  in 
reforming  its  fossiliferous  opinions  on  the  subjed ;  and 


■H 


8 


DISCOURAGEMENTS   IN   CANADA. 


.s  only  w„h.„  a  year  past,  when  exploration  ha,  dis- 
closed  ™„e„se  ledges  of  gold-bearing  quartz  all 
through  the  d.stria,  that  the  real  source  of  tie  alluvial 
god  begins  to  be  undet^tood,  and  the  miners  realize 
that  they  have  w.chm  reach  a  means  of  wealth,  easy  to 
develop  and  impossible  to  exhaust. 

The  reasons  for  this  inconceivable  tardiness  of  per- 
ception, are  many  of  them  peculiar  to  the  population 
and  aws  of  Canada.     To  appreciate  them,  one  must 
go  there      PWmining,  to  a  considerable  extent,  has 
been  followed  on  the  Seigniory  all  the  time;  but  it 
was  with  the  rudest  implements,  and  in  a  manner  not 
deserving  the  very  considerable  success  it  has  always 
metwitn.     It  was  very  like  the  Californian  experience 
before  .he  inroad  of  American  immigration;  questions 
of  title-disputes  about  taxation-the  continual  restraint 
of  governmental  red  tape-all  operated  as  discourage* 
ments;  and  the  curious  lack  of  enterprise  in  the  French- 
Canadian  population,  and  the  profound  ignorance  of 
the  subjea,  more  than  account  for  the  meager  results 
obtained.     Yet,  under  all  these  adverse  circumstanc 
large  amounts  of  gold  have  continually  been  washed 
out  on  the  Seigniory  by  the  hahUans;  and  the  pro- 
dua,  obtained  by  the  use  of  old  milk-pans,  and  in  the 
mtervals  of  other  labor  and  holiday  idleness,  has  be- 
come  so  important,  that  the  purchase  and  sale  of  crude 
gold  m  Quebec  and  by  country  traders,  i,  already  a 
definite  feature  of  business.     It  is  not  uncommon  for 


I   I 


OPINIOl    .    OF    OLD    MINERS.  9 

nuggets  to  be  found,  worth  hundreds  of  dollars  each ; 
and  those  best  informed,  estimate  the  amount  thus  pro- 
cured in  the  Seigniory  within  two  or  three  years 
past,  at  not  less  than  hah  a  million  of  dollars.* 

These  tacts  have  at  length  had  their  effect  in  the 
attraaion  of  old  miners,  returned  from  California  and 
Australia,  who  are  eager  to  ascertain  the  truth.  Uni- 
versally, these  men,  while  prospeding,  become  con- 
vinced of  the  great  value  of  the  mines ;  and  numbers 
of  them  are  now  working  in  full  expedation  of  success. 
Lands  are  changing  hands  rapidly;  enterprise  and  ex- 
perience are  displacing  indifference  and  ignorance ;  and 
capital  is  beginning  a  steady  flow   thither,  as  it  did 


DC  Difartment  0/  Crown  Lands^ 

Jesuits'  Estate  and  Crown  Domain  Branch, 
Quebec,  9th  November,  1864. 

Sir -.-I  would  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  my  letter  of  the  H^h  ultimo, 
having  reference  to  the  De  Lery  Patent  case. 

Nearly  all  the  mining  operations  of  the  past  and  present  seasons  have  been 
carried  on  exclusively  in  the  Seigniory  of  Rigaud-Vaudreuil,  the  Crown 
having  only  received  for  license  fees  elsewhere  some  $66,  while  it  is  reported 
that  about  $50,000  were  taken  out  in  the  Seigniory  in  question  last  season 
and  at  least  $100,000  during  the  present  one,  the  Crown  Royalty  on  which 
alone,  without  reference  to  previous  operations,  under  the  Patent,  reaches 
$15,000,  of  which  no  part  whatever  has  been  received. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be.  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed),  A.  CAMPBELL, 

Commissioner. 

The  Honorable  the  Attorney-General 

for  Lower  Canada,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 
1* 


10 


RIGAUD-  VAUDRE  UlL. 


eighteen  years  ago  toward  California.  Even  English 
caution  is  being  overcome ;  and  the  signs  of  the  times 
indicate  that  the  favorite  gold  fields  of  the  world  are 
speedily  to  find,  in  Canada,  a  formidable  rival  among 
the  capitalists  of  London. 

III. 

The  Seigniory  of  Rigaud-Vaudreuil,  to  which  al- 
lusion has  been  made,  demands  the  first  place  in  anv 
sketch  of  the  gold  fields  of  Canada.  It  is  a  traft  of 
country,  twelve  miles  in  length  by  nine  in  width, 
ymg  about  fifty  miles  south-east  of  Quebec,  in  the 
Chaudiere  Valley,  which  the  historical  reader  will  re- 
collea  as  having  been  the  route  of  Arnold's  army 
in  his  famous  expedition  of  invasion. 

Unlike  most  mining  regions,  this  valley  is  one  of  the 
loveliest  in  the  world;  and  this  Seigniory  embraces  the 
choicest  portion  of  the  valley.  The  Chaudiere 
River  runs  across  it  the  shortest  way,  dividing  it  into 
two  equal  portions;  and  each  of  these  halves  is  trav- 
ersed by  tributaries,  among  which  the  Gilbert,  the 
Du  Plantesy  the  Le  Bras,  and  Mill  River,  are  the 
most  important.  These  streams  give  it  a  most  admir- 
able diversity  of  hill  and  vale,  and  supply  it  abundantly 
with  water  for  every  variety  of  hydraulic  use.* 

Chaud.ere  and  of  the  St.  Franch,  throughout  the  auriferous  region,  is  such 


•i 
I 


THE   DE  LtRY  PATENT. 


II 


i 


i 


It  was  here  that  the  first  auriferous  discoveries  were 
made,  and  it  is  from  here  that  the  great  bulk  of  the 
gold  heretofore   found   in   Canada,    has   been   taken. 
Originally,  in  this  Province,  the  mines  belonged  to  the 
crown;  and  the  Seignior  De  l^ery,  having  discovered 
the  immense  treasure  hidden  in  his  patrimony,  pro- 
cured a  Royal  Patent,  in  1846,  granting  them  to  him 
and  his  heirs  forever.*     Since  that  grant,  the  govern- 
ment  has    relinquished,    throughout    all    the    rest    of 
Canada,  its  title  to  the  minerals,  vesting  them  in  the 
owners  of  the  soil ;  especial  exception  being  made  of 
the  Seigniory  of  Rigaud-Vaudreuil,  where  the  title 
had  passed  to  the  Seignior  under  the  Patent. 


that  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  secure  a  supply  of  Water  with  a  sufficient  head, 
without  a  very  great  expenditure  in  the  construftion  of  canals ;  and  it  may 
reasonably  be  expefted  that  before  long  the  deposits  of  gold-bearing  earth, 
which  are  so  wid-sly  spread  over  south-eastern  Canada,  will  be  made  economic- 
ally available." 
*  The  following  letter  is  written  by  the  Honorable  the  Commissioner  of 

Crown  Lands :  —  ,  ^  ,      j 

Department  of  Crown  Lands, 

Jesuits^  Estates  and  Crown  Domain  Branch, 
Quebec,  4th  Auguft,  I864. 
Sir:— I  have  the  honor  to  direft  your  attention  to  the  jjd  and  34th  seaions 
of  the  Aa  Z7th  and  28th  Viaoria,  chapter  9,  entitled  :  "  An  Aa  respecting 
Gold  Mines  ;"  Letters  patent,  with  reference  to  mines  of  gold,  having  been 
granted  on  the  i8th  September,  1846,  to  the  owners  of  the  Seigniory  of 
Rigaud-Vaudreuil,  of  which  it  appears  you  arc  now  sole  proprietor. 

1  have  the  honor  to  be, 
&c.,  &c.,  &c., 
(Signed),  A.  CAMPBKLL, 

Commissioner. 

Alexander  Chaussegros  De  Lery,  Esquire, 
&c.,  &c.,  &c., 
Stf .  Viarie  or  St.  Fran(;ois,  Beauce. 


12  PLACER   AND  S>UARTZ  MINING. 


^ 


I 


IV. 

Various  desultory  efForts  have  been  made  to  work 
placer  mines  in  the  Seigniory,  but  the  means  have  been 
about  as  adequate,  as  for  a  modern  farmer  to  cultivate 
his  soil  with  the  implements  in  use  a  thousand  years 
ago.  A  good  deal  of  money,  however,  has  aftually 
been  made  in  .his  way,  and  the  resident  habitan  is 
never  without  a  deposit  of  gulch  gold  hidden  in  some 
corner  of  his  cottage. 


But  it  is  not  in  the  alluvium  that  the  intelligent 
miner   searches   for   the   reliable    sources    of  wealth. 
However  successful  he  may  be  in  finding  gold  in  the 
soil,  he  will  value  it  chiefly  as  an  evidence  of  the  im- 
mensely  greater   amounts   in    the    neighboring    hills. 
The   quartz  rock  is  the   mother  or    gold;    and   the 
real   question  in  Canada  has  been,  whether  this  rock 
exists  in  quantity,  and  from  which  the  particles  found 
in  the  streams  have  been  detached  and  washed  away. 
No  efficient  steps  had  been  taken,  however,  to  solve 
this  question  till  within  the  last  year  j  and  then  the 
results  were  such  as  to  excite  astonishment  and  con- 
viction.    The  hills  were  found  to  be  full  of  quartz 
veins,  which,  when  uncovered,  proved   to  be  of  great 
width— sometimes  as  much   as  thirty  feet;    and  the 
shafts  already  sunk  on  these  ledges,  reveal  a  richness  at 
the  surface,  and  continually  increasing  with  the  depth. 


THE    TESTS   OF  SCIENCE. 


13 


scarcely  paralleled  in  the  experience  of  miners.*  In 
some  instances  this  gold  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye; 
often  its  abundant  presence  is  revealed  by  the  mag- 
niiier;  and  assays  by  reliable  metallurgists,  show  its 
universal  presence,  and  never  in  amounts  less  than 
should  give  a  fair  profit.  These  assays  have  gone  as 
high  as  six  hundred  dollars  to  the  ton,  in  quartz,  and 
sixteen  hundred  dollars  in  the  slate.  As  no  shaft  has 
as  yet  been  sunk  over  fifty  feet,  these  results  are  as  sur- 
prising as  they  are  encouraging. 

V. 

While  these  praftical  operations  are  drawing  ex- 
perience and  capital  to  the  distria,  and  stimulating  the 
ereaion  of  suitable  machinery,  it  may  be  well  to 
notice  the  opinions  of  scientific  men.  Professor  Silli- 
man's  reports  from  Nova  Scotia  are  measurably  ap- 
plicable to  Canada ;  and  the  examinations  of  Hare  and 

*  In  the  report  of  a  meeting  of  the  Chaudiere  Gold  Mining  Association, 
dated  St.  Francois,  March  7th,  1866,  accounts  are  given  of  fourteen  different 
shafts  now  being  sunk  on  quartz  veins  in  the  neighborhood.  One  of  these  is 
twenty-four  feet  wide  ;  another  twenty  ;  another  thirty  ;  and  in  neither  have 
side  walls  yet  been  found.  The  assays  reported  run  from  seventy-five  dollars 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  ton  ;  and  thirteen  hundredweight  of  ore, 
taken  from  one  vein,  and  crushed,  and  worked  in  New  York  by  mill  process, 
yielded  at  the  rate  of  forty  dollars  to  the  ton. 

As  the  whole  expense  of  raising  and  working  quartz  at  the  mines  need  not 
exceed  four  to  eight  dollars   per  ton,  the  profitableness  of  such  a  mine   is 

apparent. 

Machinery  is  also  reported  as  having  arrived  at  Quebec,  and  only  waiting 

the  opening  of  the  season  to  be  erected. 


H       QUARTZ  MINING   THE    TRUE    POLICT. 

Hodges  and  Michel,  leave  in  the  minds  of  those  gen- 
tlemen no  doubts  remaining.  Professor  Blake— than 
whom  there  is  no  better  authority  living— was  satisfied 
by  a  visit  to  the  Seigniory,  in  1865,  that  there  was 
"plenty  of  gold,"  and  speaks  in  admiring  language  of 
the  facilities  for  its  extradion. 

It  is   conceded  that  the    era    of   most     profitable 
mmmg  in  California,  began  after  the  exhaustion  of  its 
placers.     Deep  mining  in  the  maternal  rock,  is  the  sure 
source  of  rich  and  lasting  profits.     In  Canada  we  shall 
enter   on  this  profitable  era  without    the    unhealthy 
stimulant  of  any  previous  furore  for  gold    washing. 
After  suitable  tests,   convincing  to  the  judgments  of 
capitalists,  the  work  will  commence  as  one  oi  manufac- 
tunng.     Shafts  will  be  sunk,  mills  ereded,  and  the 
daily  operations  conduded  with  a  view  to  steadiness 
and  continuity.     Unlike  most  regions,  the  rock  pro- 
mises to  pay  from  the  commencement,  thus  freeing  the 
business  fro-a  necessary  risk;  and  so  cheap  are  labor 
and  food  and  materials  of  all  kinds,  that  small  capitals 
may  be  employed  with  equal  chances  of  success  and 
proportional  profit  that  attend  the  use  of  large  ones 
in  the  West. 


'!  ^ 


ill 


VI. 

After  what  has  briefly  been  said  of  the  Seigniory  of 
Rigaud-Vaudreuil,  it  is  only  necessary,  in  order  to 
show  the  value  of  the  property  of  the  De  L6ry  Gold 


f^^K^to*«Bra*B 


THE    PROSPECTS    OF    THE    COMPANY.        1 5 

Mining  Company,  to  explain  that  it  embraces  all  the 
minerals  in  this  immense  tradl,  containing  one  hundred 
and  eight  square  miles,  or  nearly  seventy  thousand 
acres.  If  there  is  any  valuable  mining  property  in 
Canada,  this  is  most  surely  so  ;  and  nowhere  else  in  the 
Province,  vnd  scarcely  in  the  world,  can  be  found  one 
of  such  magnitude. 

Something  over  half  of  this  region — larger  than 
the  original  Distria  of  Columbia— is  occupied  by 
censitoireSt  who  own  the  agricultural  right,  and  are 
entitled  to  compensation  for  land  damages  from  those 
who  work  the  mines.  The  balance  of  the  trad  is 
unsettled,  and  free  even  from  this  trifling  restridlion. 

The  Company's  right  consists  in  a  lease  for  thirty 
years  from  September,  1864,  with  a  privilege  of  re- 
newal for  thirty  years  additional.  Of  the  entire  cost 
of  the  property,  less  than  fifty  thousand  dollars  re- 
main unpaid,  and  that  conveniently  arranged.  The 
Government,  in  the  Royal  Patent,  stipulates  for  the 
payment  to  the  crown  of  ten  per  cent,  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  mines,  but  conditioned  on  the  eredion  of 
works  which  the  Company  will  never  need.  Nego- 
tiations with  the  Government  will,  probably,  result  in 
a  compromise  by  which  the  tax  will  be  reduced  to 
one  per  cent. 


f 


i6 


ORGANIZATION. 


VII. 

The  organization  of  the  Company  is  a  source  Oi 
satisfaction  to  the  stockholders.  It  is  based  on  a 
charter  granted  by  the  Canadian  Government,  with 
the  privilege  of  stockholders,  direftors,  and  offices 
in  the  United  States;  and  the  diredory  was  made 
with  an  especial  view  to  its  permanent  and  earnest 
objeft.  The  management  is  in  the  hands  of  men, 
most  of  whom  are  too  well  known  to  the  business 
communities  of  Canada  and  New  York  to  need 
description. 


The  Capital  Stock  is  Ten  Millions  of  dollars,  as  any 
less  sum  would  be  disproportioned  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  property.  Of  this.  Five  Hundred  Thousand  dollars 
is  a  Guaranteed  Stock,  on  which  all  the  profits  of  the 
Company  are  perpetually  pledged  to  the  amount  ot 
ten  per  centum  per  annum.  As  it  is  anticipated  that 
the  profits  eventually  may  largely  exceed  this  dividend, 
this  Guaranteed  Stock  is  always  convertible  into  Com- 
mon Stock  at  the  pleasure  of  the  holder. 


m 


The  Guaranteed  Stock  is  to  supply  the  Working 
Capital  of  the  Company,  and  complete  the  payment  for 
the  property.  It  is  to  be  subscribed  and  paid  for  in 
cash,  at  par.     Eighteen  hundred  shares  (one  hundred 


■5 


J 


I 


POLICY. 


17 


and  eighty  thousand  dollars)  have  already  been  sold 
and  the  proceeds  used  for  these  purposes  ;  and  the  re- 
„.ainder  (three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  do  lars) 
will  furnish  ample  funds  for  all  ^^j-^^^'f'  "^J^' 
Company  ts  orgamzed  tn  Canada,  the  Stock  and  alt 
accounts  are  on  a  gold  basis. 

Notwithstanding  the  magnitude  of  the  property,  and 
its  evident  intrinsic  value,  the  policy  of  the  Company 
will  be  one  of  caution.     It  is  not  intended  to  corn-- 
mence  improvements  on  any  extravagant  plan  ■  but  to 
follow  one  that  will  pradically  demonstrate  the  most 
profitable  modes  of  operation,  and  adopt  such  modes 
as  fast  as  proven.     By  providing  plenty  of  money,  but 
using  it  with  economy-by  keeping  out  of  debt   and 
developing  the  property  as  far  as  possible  with  the 
profits-it  is  believed  that  the  operations  may  be  con- 
Laed  with  an  absence  of  risk,  and  an  assurance  of 
good  dividends.      When  we  consider  that  a  mere  y 
initial  exploration  has  revealed  some  for.y  miles  of  gold 
bearing  quart,  ledges,  a  little  calculation  shows  that 
there  ts  room  in  the  Seigniory  for  from  Jive  hundred 
to  one  thousand  companies.     Viewed  in  the  light  ot 
the  faas,  the  sum  of  Ten  Millions  of  dollars  is  a  very 
moderate  one  on  which  to  realize  large  annual  profits 
But  in  limiting  the  Working  Capital  to  Five  Hundred 
Thousand  dollars  of  Guaranteed  Stock,  the  safety  of  the 
investor  is  greatly  increased;  and  in  case  the  whole  of 
this  stock  shall  be  sold,  it  will  require  a  profit  of  only 


J 


ill 


i8 


OFFICIAL    TESTIMONY, 


Fifty  Thousand  dollars  «-.. 

aJa    c  ^^^  ^""""^  ^o  insure  thi«  dlvJ 

dollars,  wuh  an  expenditure  of  about  twelve  thousand  < 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent    „   \l'""''^'"i  '■ 
-ed,  and  this  with  cheap'™';;  ne"   a:d t  T^/ 
enterprise.     J   smg/e  kL.    worked    Ih       ^ 
skill,  should  give  ut  nrofirt  u  ordinary 

cent  on  t),,         ,    r,  '^  ™°''8''  '°  divide  ten  per 

cent.  ™  the  whole  Guaranteed  Stock,  and  leave  a  large 


VIII. 

nole  of     e  T"'.  ""'  ''  '""'"''''  """'""  =°-"' 
in    1         uf^'"'"^"'™^^'''''^  '■-''- -de 


Lord  Elgm,  Governor-General  of  the  Province  in  a 
dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  ,k.      i  , 

in  Aueust    tSr,        "'^  """' '""l^' glomes,  made 

^;^'^|«^JPe^  very  encouragingly  in  regard  to  the 

"nd  dollars  per  month.  "^  ^       '''°"'''  ^'  ''''''"£  »"'  t^«nty  thou- 


SIR   IVILLIAM  LOGAN. 


19 


mines,  and  states  that  he  saw  a  considerable  quantity 
of  gold  washed  out  from  the  gravel  of  the  Du  Flantcs, 

Sir  William  Logan  has  given  some  attention  to  the 
subjeft,  and  in  his  work  of  1863  (pages  739  to  745), 
asserts  that  the  auriferous  drift  of  the  Cliaiidiere  \%  far 
richer  than  that  which,  in  California,  affords  ample 
returns  to  hydraulic  mining.  The  examinations 
made  under  his  diredlion  during  the  past  year,  have 
resulted  in  largely  increased  confidence  in  the  richness 
of  both  the  gulch  and  quartz  mines. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1865,  an  elaborate  report 
was  made  by  a  Parliamentary  Committee,  after  a  search- 
ing investigation  of  the  subjed,  filling  a  closely  printed 
pamphlet  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-fix  pages.  A 
large  number  of  witnesses  were  examined,  taken  from 
all  classes,  and  including  many  of  the  residents  of  the 
Seigniory,  and  old  miners  who  had  worked  here  at 
their  trade.  This  evidence  leaves  on  the  minds  of 
those  reading  it,  not  a  doubt  of  the  presence  of  gold  in 
quantity  to  make  its  extradtion  a  business  of  superlative 
profit.  Two  or  three  extradls  from  this  Report,  will 
show  the  charader  of  this  evidence. 


« 


In  regard  to  the  extent  to  which  gold  has  been 
mined  or  discovered,  your  Committee  have  obtained 
very  valuable  and  reliable  evidence.  The  Gold  Mining 
Inspedor,  Major  De  Bellefeuille,  states  the  whole  quan- 


20 


THE   PARLIAMENTARY  REPORT. 


tity  of  gold  produced  during  the  past  season,  in  the 
Chaudiere  Gold  Mining  Division,  to  be  One  Hundred 
and  Sixteen  Thousand  dollars ;  and  this,  considering  the 
comparatively  small  number  of  hands  employed,  must 
be  regarded  as  a  very  handsome  return,  the  average  of 
the  season  being  no  less  than  four  dollars  per  day  per 
man.  The  Gold  Mining  Inspectors  Report,  how- 
ever, can  not  be  taken  as  representing  the  total  quantity, 
as  it  comes  only  to  the  30th  of  November,  since  which 
period,  mining  operations  have  been  constantly  carried 
on,  and  with  highly  satisfactory  results,  on  the  Gilbert, 
The  greater  portion  of  the  gold  so  far  obtained,  has 
been  taken  from  a  small  area  on  the  Gilbert  River,  a 
few  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Francis. 
It  appears,  however,  that  considerable  quantities  of 
gold  were  obtained  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  oi 
which  he  was  furnished  with  no  return.  Thus,  for 
example,  on  the  Stafford  Brook,  the  evidence  shows 
that  Two  Thousand  dollars  were  obtained,  while  his 
return  shows  only  Three  Hundred  dollars." 


'*  In  regard  to  the  winter  operations  carried  on,  on 
the  Gilbert^  the  evidence  of  the  miners  is  highly  im- 
portant, as  it  was  to  some  extent  against  their  interest 
to  give  it.  They  have  found  hill  tunneling  beneatji 
the  snow  in  winter,  as  profitable  as  alluvial  washing  in 


summer. 


>> 


"  With  regard  to  the  general  richness  of  the  Gilbert 


COMPARISON   WITH   CALIFORNIA. 


21 


diggings,  the  evidence  of  these  witnesses  is  conclusive. 
William  Abbott  took  from  one  claim  of  only  sixty- 
feet  front,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars in  gold,  during  the  early  part  of  the  summer;  and 
in  the  month  of  August,  he  took  from  another  claim 
of  only  twenty-five  feet  frontage,  five  hundred  and 
ninety-five  dollars.  He  had  seen  or  found  nuggets 
worth  from  seventy-nine  dollars  up  to  three  hundred 
dollars. 

"John  McCrea  exhibited  a  nugget  weighing  twelve 
ounces  fourteen  pennyweights,  besides  a  quantity  ot 
gold  in  rough  nuggets,  amounting  to  many  ounces  in 
weight." 

"Your  Committee,  desirous  of  obtaining  such  evi- 
dence as  would  admit  of  a  comparison  being  made  with 
the  Gold  Fields  of  California  and  Australia,  examined 
several  witnesses  who  had  been  long  engaged  in  mining 
operations  in  those  countries ;  and  the  result  warrants 
the  Committee  in  expressing  the  opinion  that  the  Cana- 
dian Gold  Fields  exhibit  at  least  as  fair  indications  rs 
were  in  the  first  instance  observable  either  in  California 
or  Australia ;  v/hile,  in  certain  cases,  the  adual  average 
amount  of  gold  obtained  to  the  hand  per  day,  quite 
equals  the  returns  in  those  countries,  except,  of  course, 
in  the  cases  of  extraordinarily  rich  strikes." 


The  entire  Report  of  this  Committee  manifests  in- 


22  NOVA  SCOTIA. 

telligence  and  candor;    and  it  indicates  a  desire  to 
avoid  any  adion  which  should   give  to  the  Canadian  • 
Gold  Fields  a  higher  reputation  than  future  develop- 
ments shall  sustain. 


IX. 

A  few  words  in  regard  to  the  Nova  Scotia  mines, 
of  which  mention  has  been  made,  will  aid  in  under- 
standing the  value  of  those  in  Canada. 

Nova  Scotia  has  the  advantage  of  precedence  in 
intelligent  and  systematic  working;  so  that  she  has 
already  been  able  to  show  more  conclusive  results  than 
has  her  sister  Province.  Operations  in  the  quartz  rock 
have  been  made  the  basis  of  the  mining  industry; 
mills,  though  small  and  imperfed,  have  been  ereded 
and  used ;  and  though  the  policy  of  the  capitalists 
seems  to  have  been  cautious,  even  to  the  verge  of  ti- 
midity, yet  have  they  been  able  to  achieve  the  adual 
demonstration  oi profits. 

The  Report  of  the  Chief  Commissioner  of  Mines 
for  1865,  shows  the  following  fa6ls : — 

The  total  yield  of  gold  was  over  Twenty -five  Thou- 
sand ounces,  mainly  from  the  quartz,  and  worth  over 
half  a  million  of  dollars. 


SUPERIOR   ADVANTAGES   OF   CANADA.       23 

This  yield  exceeded  that  of  1864  by  one-fourth, 
and  equaled  the  combined  yields  of  i%6z  and  1863, 

This  result  was  procured  by  the  labor  of  a  much 
less  number  of  men  than  Had  been  employed  in  pre- 
vious years. 

The  number  of  tons  of  quartz  raised  per  man,  was 
larger  than  ever  before. 

The  quartz  was  richer,  yielding  more  gold  per  ton. 

Comparing  with  these  data  the  Reports  of  the 
Companies  working,  it  appears  that  a  large  profit  was 
made  on  most  of  the  operations ;  and  it  would  seem 
to  be  settled  that  the  business  in  that  Province  can  be 
made  lucrative. 

When  we  consider  that  the  quartz  veins  of  Canada 
are  similar  to  these  in  charader,  but  wider  and  richer, 
and  that  labor  and  material  are  equally  cheap,  these 
fads  supply  a  logical,  if  not  an  adual  demonstration, 
of  the  pradlicable  profits  within  our  reach  here. 

The  accessibility  of  the  Seigniory  of  Rigaud-Vau- 
DREuiL,  is  an  argument  of  great  force,  as  it  is  only  a 
pleasant  journey  of  twenty-four  hours  from  Boston  or 
Montreal,  and  of  forty-eight  from  New  York. 


X. 


This    brief  Statement   but   imperfedly   shows    the 
reasons  for  believing  that  the  J)il  Lery  Gold  Mining 

•   .     t  .       •  •  •     .  •   '  '  ' 


24 


CONCLUSION. 


Company  possesses  the  most  valuable  property  of  the 
kind  in  the  world. 

The  one  objeft  of  the  Direftors  is  the  development 
of  this  property  into  a  source  of  rich  and  steadily  in- 
creasing income  to  the  Stockholders.  The  organiza- 
tion has  been  attended  by  no  profits  to  individuals. 
These  are  expeded  from  the  dividends.  All  sales  of 
Stock  are  made  for  the  sole  purpose  of  work,  and  every 
dollar  goes  diredly  into  the  Treasury. 

New  investors  will  participate  in  all  the  advantages 
given  to  previous  ones,  till  money  enough  is  provided 
for  the  current  year.  The  plan  proposed  is  eminently 
liberal,  fair,  and  safe.  But  all  persons  wishing  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  Stock,  are  invited  to  a  most  thorough  pre- 
vious investigation,  and  enjoined  to  aft  on  the  respon- 
sibility of  their  own  judgments.  To  see  the  property 
will  be  the  wiser  course,  and  to  this  end  the  officers 
will  afford  all  facilities. 


Maps  and  specimens  can  be  seen  at  the  New  York 
Office,  and  additional  information  obtained  of  the 
Secretary. 

April,  1866. 


